Showing posts with label Puer. Show all posts

Crimson Lotus Tea Spring 2015 Kunlu Shan Slumbering Dragon Sheng

Origin: Pu’er
Harvest: Spring 2015
Elevation: 2000m
Tree Age: “As old as the earth itself”



Today I decided to try Crimson Lotus Tea’s Kunlu Shan Slumbering Dragon, another of Crimson Lotus Teas that I am hoping not to fall in love with. This is a rather interesting tea according to the description the trees that were used to make this cake, supposedly the trees are as old as the earth itself so anywhere between 6,000 years and 4.5 billion years and frankly those trees are too young for me to be seen in public with. Crimson Lotus Tea describes this as:
This is a rare puerh. Of all the tea we sell this is the hardest to source and the hardest to pick. There is a village in Kunlu Shan that isn't even on Google maps. Once you're there you need to hike another 3 kilometers into the mountains to get to these trees. The hike is often steep. You gain 500 meters and it takes more than 3 hours to get there. No one there knows how long the trees have been there or anything about their history. When you ask locals the age they simply reply that they are as old as the earth itself.
On the north slope of a steep mountain ridge, surrounded by dense forest, these trees reach to the sky. The trees at 20-40 feet tall literally scrape the ceiling of the forest. Impressive does not begin to describe these ancient beings. The Chinese call these trees '高杆'/gāogān which means "Tall Pole".
These skinny trees often grow in a trio and remain branchless until near the top. Barefoot, only the young and the brave, carefully climb to the top to pick the Spring harvest. There are no ropes, harnesses, or soft landings. It is dangerous work. In an attempt to conserve their strength for the ages these trees each produce precious few buds and new spring growth. A day's harvest for a young eager picker often maxes out around just 2kg. After roasting and sun drying perhaps half a kilo is all they have to show for the days work. It took them 2 weeks to harvest what we bought.
In 2014 we had a chance to buy a small amount of leaf from these special trees. We pressed just ten 100g cakes. Five we sold and five we kept for ourself. Out of all we sourced last year this puerh was the most unique. The flavor is strong, pure, natural, and quite bitter, but with a transcendent chaqi. We made certain to visit Kunlu Shan to get more this year.
We named this puerh "Slumbering Dragon" because of the visual image of these ancient trees growing so peacefully in the mountains. They seem to us like dragons of a previous era in a deep slumber for eons. The strong energy in this tea mirrors the strength of dragons in our active imaginations. 
We present this tea as is. This is unblended, single origin, high altitude, wild tree puerh. It will not taste like a lot of the puerh out there. It is strong and intense with a very pronounced bitterness that can linger. The intensity of bitterness will fade with age. Our 2014 has mellowed quite nicely. The energy in this tea is quite strong, it will sneak up on you. We hope you get a chance to try this amazing and unique tea.
I’ll be honest, this is one of the few teas I actually read the vendor’s description before sampling the tea itself. Normally I try not to let the vendor’s tasting notes or description bias me, but I knew this was an expensive tea and I didn’t want to make a mistake when brewing.


Dry Leaves: I’m always impressed at how much better other people are at breaking up cakes, once again my sample at first looks like maocha, but it is obviously from a cake and someone more skilled with a pick (certainly not from someone who routinely stabs himself while trying to break up a cake). The dry leaves has a slight sweet and fruity aroma.



First Steeping
Temperature: Boiling
Brewing Time: Five Seconds
Aroma: Fruity and Camphor
Flavor: Super Bitter, Bitter and Citrus Peel
Tasting Notes: Like always I did three quick five seconds rinses, and used a little more than 5g of loose leaf. I initially thought I was poisoned, I have never had something so bitter and sharp and I liked it; perhaps not enough to drink this often, but this has an amazing sharpness. I had a lot of trouble identifying any flavor because of the lingering bitterness, but I think there was some citrus peel taste, but I am not exactly sure. According to CLT’s description their 2014 has mellowed out quite nicely so I suspect if this is anything like the 2014 it will be nicer in a year.



This was the sharpest bitter tea I have ever had even though the bitterness lingered for an absurdly long period of time, I waited around five minutes or so between steepings for it to go away even though I started chewing on a sprig of mint. As for the aroma it is a little weak I did get something fruity that I could not pin down as well as camphor. Despite the bitterness I enjoyed this tea; this is definitely a puerh person tea.



Second Steeping
Temperature: Boiling
Brewing Time: 10 Seconds
Aroma: Fruity and Camphor
Flavor: Bitter and Citrus Peel
Tasting Notes: Again I had quite a lot of trouble trying to identify what I was tasting beyond the very sharp bitterness. I almost described this as kuwei and while I can certainly see someone who likes a pleasant bitterness in their shengs to enjoy this tea I don’t feel comfortable in describing it as such because of the lingering aftertaste.



The liquor is getting slightly darker and the used leaves smell wonderfully fruity, but this is definitely ones of those teas meant to be hidden away and forgotten.



Third Steeping
Temperature: Boiling
Brewing Time: 15 Seconds
Aroma: Fruity and Camphor
Flavor: Bitter and Citrus Peel
Tasting Notes: Again bitter and I had trouble identifying anything beyond that bitterness.




I almost decided against posting this since I had so much trouble with how it tasted, but it has an amazing Cha Qi, I’ll admit I got very tea drunk off the first infusion something that does not happen to me much (perhaps because I tend to drink a lot of cheap young puerhs meant to be drank immediately). I have never had a tea like this before, it does not feel like one of those puerhs that is not drinkable in its current state, but I feel like this is going to get so much better as it ages. I decided to publish my thoughts on this tea because I think it is a good tea, as many of you may know I only write about teas that I enjoy or find interesting on this blog and this Slumbering Dragon fall between both those categories. This tea made me feel like a tea novice again, I loved how Slumbering Dragon made me feel overwhelmed and inexperienced. At the time of writing this Crimson Lotus Tea is selling a 200g cake of this for $120 and it is worth checking out if you have a little extra in your tea budget although this is a very unique puerh so if you do plan on purchasing it come with an open mind.  
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White2Tea 2015 Milk, Cream & Alcohol


So I’ve been sitting on my new White2Teas for a little bit, which surprised me  because of how much I was (and still am) looking forward to trying them, perhaps because my ever growing pile of samples is getting dangerously tall. Nevertheless I decided to start off trying my Milk, Cream & Alcohol since it has the best design and I forgot to buy a sample of Poundcake. I am starting to think I am subconsciously forgetting to purchase all the teas I want so I can justify a second and third purchase soon after receiving the first.  Regardless of my forgetfulness White2Tea describes this as:
Menghai area character. Built to be a quality daily drinker. A blend that has all of the traits of a classic style raw Puer, at a price that anyone can afford. Drink now or store for the long haul.
Like all White2Tea’s description it is short and somewhat lacking for such an interesting tea.



Dry Leaves: The cake is tightly compressed, quite a lot of variety in the leaves. I see an awful lot of white and silvery tips. There is a fruity aroma.



First Steeping
Temperature: Boiling 
Brewing Time: Five Seconds
Aroma: Fruity and Pine Needles
Flavor: Vegetal, Tobacco and Pineapple
Tasting Notes: This has an amazing pungent aroma; there is a very strong fruity scent as well as an incredibly clean pine needle smell. This has a nice cha qi, not necessarily strong, but pretty good for such a young sheng. I can certainly see one getting tea drunk off this tea in fact I did, but not until the fifteen or so steeping. Other than that there is a Tobacco taste that I did not really care for, the stronger vegetal notes and slightly weaker pineapple made this worth drinking despite the tobacco taste.



This was quite an interesting first steeping; it has some bitterness that quickly disappears because of the very sweet pineapple notes. At this point I could already tell I love this tea and will buy a couple cakes, perhaps even a tong of it.

Second Steeping
Temperature: Boiling
Brewing Time: Ten Seconds
Aroma: Fruity and Pine Needles       
Flavor: Tobacco, Green Bean, Pineapple and Wood
Tasting Notes: The initial bitterness is a little stronger than the previous infusion, although like the last it is overwhelmed quickly by the sweet pineapple notes. I was a little disappointed to see the Tobacco notes become the strongest and most prominent, nevertheless this is still a very drinkable tea for me as someone who does not care for teas with strong tobacco notes.



The vegetal notes of the last have become green bean-y, which may be a sign that this is the type of sheng that should be drank now rather than aged and judging by the price I feel that is a pretty safe bet, although this is a White2Tea and in my experience I have not had (or read anyone else who thought) that White2Tea’s teas were suitable or benefit from aging.

Third Steeping
Temperature: Boiling
Brewing Time: Fifteen Seconds
Aroma: Fruity and Pine Needles
Flavor: Tobacco, Green Bean, Pineapple and Wood
Tasting Notes: The aroma is still amazing and is pretty much unchanged from the first infusion. At this point it is hard to decide what is better the aroma of this tea or the taste; right now I’m leaning more towards aroma, but in later infusions the tastes definitely become the star. Thereis not much more that I can say about this tea, in its present state it is a little simple, the kind of tea that I have no trouble drinking often and last longer than many teas I’d consider as daily drinkers.





As I already said I love this tea and will buy more of it, for some reason when I was drinking this I kept thinking of White2Tea’s 2002 White Whale even though it does not taste similar to it. Last time I had the White Whale I was starting to think it was getting a little old for me, the next time I order something from Whtie2Tea I’ll have to pick up another cake and see if I want more of it. Nevertheless the obvious difference between 2015 Milk, Cream, & Alcohol and 2002 White2Tea is that this is nearly two thirds the price of White Whale and twice the size, although this is nowhere as smooth as White Whale and in its current state is much simpler tea. At the time of writing this White2Tea is selling a small 25g sample of this for $2.35 and the whole 200g cake for $17.50 and is definitely worth checking out; because of its modest price I’d recommend buying a cake as a sample.
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M&K's Big Snow Mountain Pearls Sheng 2013

(Tea Provided for Review)
Origin: Daxueshan National Reserve, Yongde County, Yunnan, China
Harvest: Mid April 2013
Cultivar: Camellia Sinensis var. Assamica
I decided to try this first, I am not normally a fan of puerh pearls, but something about it seemed interesting when I was initially browsing M&K’s catalogue. M&K describes this as:
There are two Da Xue Shan (literally "Big Snow Mountains") in China's Lincang Prefecture, one in Mengku County and the other in Yongde County. This tea was picked in the Daxueshan National Reserve at the foothills of the Himalayas, with tea trees growing at altitudes reaching about 2,750 meters (about 9,000 feet). Unlike most Chinese tea, which uses the tea variety sinensis, these Pu-erh pearls were grown with the assamica (large leaf) variety. Tea enthusiasts will not be disappointed with these pearls, which offer a complex flavor and flowery aroma with hints of stone fruit, and allow for many resteepings! We recommend this tea to lovers of raw (sheng) pu-erh as well as green and white teas. 
It’s interesting that M&K recommends this to green tea and white tea drinkers, after sampling this I am not sure if I agree.
Dry Leaves: My sample included two pearls each about 5.6 grams, so a bit smaller than blooming tea, but larger than pearl or rolled tea. It does not have much of a scent, but I a suspect that may be because of how tightly compressed this is. 

First Steeping
Temperature: 200oF
Brewing Time: Five Seconds
Aroma: Floral and Grassy
Flavor: Pear, Vegetal and Floral
Tasting Notes: I started off with three quick rinses with boiling water for five seconds, and till the pearls are tightly compressed. While the early infusions are nice, if you wanted to skip ahead to the really amazing infusions you’d probably have to rinse it for a thirty seconds. It has a rather nice aroma, although it does take quite some time for it to develop (it was not till the seventh or so infusion that the floral nose started to become strong enough to be pleasant), while now it is a little on the weak side. 
There is some bitterness, and slight cha qi, both of which would not defer a new to sheng puerh drinker, but not enough to satisfy someone more experienced with young sheng puerh. Nevertheless this is a very pleasant and easy to enjoy tea so far, the sweet pear and floral notes are hard to hate, while the vegetal taste and grassy aroma may put some off. 

Second Steeping
Temperature: 205oF
Brewing Time: Ten Seconds
Aroma: Floral and Fresh Grass
Flavor: Pear, Nectarine, Vegetal and Floral
Tasting Notes: The bitterness is starting to develop and it has some cha qi that will certainly warm you up, but still a little on the weak side (although I do not think I have ever really felt cha qi in puerh pearls before, but then again I have not had a lot of puerh pearls in the past) 


Other than that describing the aroma is what I have the most trouble with. I feel that the floral scent is the most distinct aroma I can’t exactly describe it, I am sure I have experienced it before, but I can’t quite describe it; as for the grassy notes as I was drinking this tea I kept struggling to describe it, while I am confident it is grassy at times it reminds me of that very fresh grassy scent which can be found in gyokuros (like in this particular steeping) while in others (like the previous it reminds me more of dried grass). 

Third Steeping
Temperature: Boiling
Brewing Time: Fifteen Seconds
Aroma: Floral and Grassy
Flavor: Pear, Nectarine and Vegetal
Tasting Notes: It still has those sweet fruity tastes, perhaps a little stronger than the previous infusion, but the floral flavor is gone entirely which I am ambivalent about. While I did enjoy the floral flavor I do like the contrast between the pear/nectarine with the vegetal notes more without the floral notes, it feels like a much cleaner tea now. While I do not think the pear or nectarine notes have changed since the last infusion they feel much crisper now. The bitterness is starting to become stronger, not enough for me to describe it as kuwei. I don’t know why, but for some reason this reminds me of menghai sheng.






I enjoyed this sheng. As I mentioned before I don’t drink a lot of puerh pearls and I am not really one who purchases puerhs with the intention to age, I am more of a drink it now type of puerh drinker so I do not feel confident in judging it’s future potential, but it is certainly in a drinkable state right now. While it lacks the complexity of more expensive young shengs I feel it is worth checking out if you like young shengs. At the time of writing this M&K’s Tea Co. sells 50g for $10.49 which feels like a fair price to me. 
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Crimson Lotus Tea Spring 2015 Jingmai Midas Touch Sheng

Origin: Mangjing/Manghong, Siamo
Harvest: Spring 2015
Elevation: 1300m
Tree age: ≈600 years old


Glenn of Crimson Lotus Tea included a sample of his 2015 Jingmai Midas Touch, a tea I had my eye on, but was just a little bit out of my budget as well as another of his more expensive shengs, sadly no Special Sauce. Nevertheless I was excited to try this tea, but before I was decided to sample it I really did not want to fall in love with it. While this is not an outrageously expensive sheng I am more used to buying young shengs in the $30-50 range. Crimson Lotus Tea describes this as:
The old growth tea forests of Jingmai ( pronounced 'jing my' ) are nothing short of idyllic. These ancient forests border Burma and hide smuggler trade routes still in use today. The biodiversity of the region and the nearly untainted old world methods and rituals of tea cultivation and harvesting make this area unique among world tea production. Large tea trees planted before Columbus discovered the Americas are commonplace.
This year we had the pleasure of meeting a tea farmer in Jingmai called "The Bulang Prince". He's quite a unique character. He is young and highly educated for a tea farmer. He is passionately dedicated to perfecting his craft and has spent time traveling and learning from other tea farmers in Yunnan. He is a rare breed. He worked with roasting masters in Bingdao to polish his skills. 
His 'royal' hands were responsible for roasting this tea. The material is good to begin with, but in his hands we felt it became something extra special. We decided to call this one "Midas Touch" because we feel he has the skill to turn his leaf into gold.
This tea is strong despite the young age. It has the beginnings of the honey aroma Jingmai is known for. This tea brews both gentle and strong at the same time. It can surprise you. Stick this on a shelf for 10 years and you will have a truly amazing tea!
·         Prefecture: Simao
·         Village: Mangjing / Manghong
·         Tree Age: ~600 years old
·         Elevation: 1300+m
·         Wood Fired
·         Hand Rolled
·         Indoor Sun Dried


Dry Leaves: My sample is loosely compressed at first I thought it was maocha, but after viewing the image on CLT’s website it looks like the cake is pretty unique, it looks like there is a lot of variety in this cake. There are what appear to be some large leaves as well as some twisted leaves. Visually it reminds me of Bai Mu Dan because of how varied the tea appears to be. It looks like there are a few stems in the cake, but my sample is all leaves.


First Steeping
Temperature: Boiling
Brewing Time: Five Seconds
Aroma: Smoke and Fruity
Flavor: Apricot, Green Beans, and Hay
Tasting Notes: This was rather interesting, but simple start. While it does not have that smoky taste a lot of young shengs can have it does have a bit of a smoke/char aroma. It does have a nice bitterness that disappears around the sixths or seventh infusion after that it becomes very sweet. Other than that there is a wonderful apricot taste as well as some green bean and hay notes.



I know green bean flavors in young shengs can be a warning sign, but this tastes very different from any of the young shengs I have had before. I don’t feel confident in predicting how this will age or even if it is worth aging (since it is a very drinkable tea as it is), but this stands out to me for some reason that I cannot exactly put my finger on.


Second Steeping
Temperature: Boiling
Brewing Time: Ten Seconds
Aroma: Burnt Wood, Camphor and Fruity
Flavor: Apricot, Green Beans and Hay
Tasting Notes: Still there is some bitterness, but not a lot to turn off someone off this tea; but not enough to be that memorable. There is quite a lot of sweetness that dulls the initial bitterness. The flavors of this sheng are pretty similar to the last infusion still very simple, but at the same time very nice.



The aromas have changed a little. There is a new Camphor smell that was rather nice, the fruity scent is pretty much the same; but the Smoke/Char of the last infusion is more like Burnt Wood. Not necessarily like burning wood, but more like the smell of a living tree that has been hit by lightning.


Third Steeping
Temperature: Boiling
Brewing Time: Fifteen Seconds
Aroma: Burnt Wood, Camphor and Fruity
Flavor: Apricot, Green Beans and Hay
Tasting Notes: Again the flavor and aromas are pretty much the same as last time, the strength of the Camphor smell is a little stronger, but the Burnt Wood smell is still the primary aroma. The bitterness is still there, but it quickly disappears. Overall this is a rather nice experience; it has a nice bit of bitterness, not necessarily kuwei, which is balanced by the sweetness.  So far this tea is meandering somewhere in the middle of the road, it is not one of those supper easy sweet and floral teas that probably won’t age well nor is it one of those rough teas that may have a bright future.




While this sheng takes a while to become more complex the early infusions have these amazing simple tastes. While I do focus on the early experience with any tea that I look at for this blog, this tea may sound a little like a daily drinker because of its simplicity and relative slow start, but it doesn’t start to shine until the fifth or sixth infusion. At the time of writing this Crimson Lotus Tea is currently selling 200g cake of Midas Touch for $80 and I hate how much I like this tea. While the price and lack of samples may defer those who are interested. I do not know if I’d purchase an entire cake of this since Crimson Lotus Tea has quite a few shengs that I want to sample, but this is definitely one of their nicer 2015 teas. 
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Crimson Lotus Tea’s 2005 Changtai "Yun Pu Zhi Dian / Top of the Clouds"

Pressed by: Yunnan Changtai Tea Industry group
Harvest: 2005 Spring


So I finally got my Crimson Lotus Tea package, it took an ungodly long time to arrive a whole two days. I decided to start off with one of the samples Glen included rather than one of the 2015 cakes I’ve been lusting after since this is one of CLT’s teas that I’ve been avoiding. I’ll admit I am slightly prejudiced against puerhs not pressed by vendors, while I have had a lot of good factory cakes at the same time I had quite a lot more bad factory cakes. At the same time I am rarely disappointed with cakes pressed by the vendors themselves, but then again CLT is a small curated store so they must really believe in this tea. Anyways Crimson Lotus Tea describes this as:
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White2Tea’s 2008 Often

(Tea Provided For Review)


I’m approaching the end of my White2Tea samples, I originally planned on trying this 2008 Often first, but I lost the sample; unbeknownst to me I put it with my Japanese greens. Anyways White2Tea describes this as:
Another unwrapped warehouse find, the Often 250 gram tuo is a solid daily drinker Puer tea for the Puer fanatic on a budget. Slightly strong in early steeps, this tuo behaves like a young Puer that is just beginning to calm down. The tea leaves a strong sweet feeling in the mouth.
250g tightly pressed tuo [nest shaped], heavy on the huangpian [large, yellow leaf] and pressed with a red ribbon. Previously unwrapped in large boxes, we wrapped it in paper with a stamp that says “Often” to remind you to drink Puer everyday.
I’m starting to feel that White2Tea prefers letting the tea speaks for itself, besides being made from huangpian you don’t get much besides it has a sweet aftertaste.

Dry Leaves: The leaves have a couple golden tips and looks like a lot of huangpian I’ve had in the past; it looks to be tightly compressed has a soft earthy aroma with some hay notes. The dry leaves are not particularly fragrant, but I could smell a bit of smoke in this.

First Steeping
Temperature: 175oF
Brewing Time: Thirty Seconds
Aroma: Smoky, Meaty and Peach
Flavor: Vegetal, Smokey and Grassy
Tasting Notes: I started off with three quick five second rinses using boiling water and the leaves still have not started to break apart. There was a bit of smoke taste and aroma, but it was not overwhelming like some cheap shengs and there was a strange meaty aroma (maybe boiled meat). There was no astringency or bitterness so far, but there was a very sweet grassy aftertaste. I do not often (ha!) taste sweet grassy notes in shengs.


So far I am not sure what to think of this, the sweetness put me off a little, the vegetal and smoke notes are very weak so far and perhaps it would have been stronger if I used hotter water. There is a nice thin-ish mouthfeel that was quite pleasant.

Second Steeping
Temperature: 190oF
Brewing Time: Forty-five Seconds
Aroma: Smokey and Peach
Flavor: Vegetal, Grassy, Wet Stone and Honey
Tasting Notes:  I decided to crank up the heat this time I don’t often do this when trying new shengs especially shengs that I was planning on writing on, but I do have quite a lot of my Often sample left over. As a little side note I tend to notice TwoDog like the better Puerh vendors tend to give out a little more, my sample packet says 10g, but it actually had 17g in it; 10g of which was a large chunk, 5g in a smaller chunk and 2g in loose strands.


Anyways wow this sure taste a lot better than the last infusion. While the last was slightly on the anemic side this is much more potent. The strange meaty aroma disappeared as well as the smokey flavor. Instead there was a wet stone taste. Still it has a very sweet aftertaste, this time more so from the honey notes than the grassy (although this is still sweet). I am happy to say there is some light astringency this time, but still no bitterness.

Third Steeping
Temperature: Boiling
Brewing Time: One Minute
Aroma: Peach
Flavor: Bell Pepper, Celery, Grassy Mineral and Honey
Tasting Notes: The smokey aroma is gone; the peach scent is starting to become much stronger and is quite pleasant. The bitterness is starting to become stronger, almost to the point where I would describe it as kuwei. Otherwise the vegetal notes started to become distinct; I’m getting a lot of thin watery bell pepper notes as well as celery in later infusions I get more cucumber notes. The sweetness of the grassy notes is starting to wane, but the honey aftertaste is still strong.



I rather enjoyed Often, while it did star out a little weak I cannot chalk that up to me using too cold of water. I did use the rest of my sample in another session and started with boiling water and still the first infusion was weak (not as weak though) I feel pretty confident in saying this tea benefits from longer rinses. At the time of writing this White2Tea is selling a 250g tuocha for $22.50 and that seems very reasonably priced. Often is definitely a daily drinker and I feel it is worth checking out even though White2Tea currently does not offer a sample, it is very non-offensive tea and probably best to drink soon (and often). It does not have some of those green bean notes that are warning signs for many sheng drinkers, I am a little curious how this will age.




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